After we pre­sent­ed the Sen­so­ry Ethnog­ra­phy Lab made in Boston two years ago, we are in 2017 - begin­ning with Direct Cinema - pre­sent­ing a range of styl­is­tic meth­ods applied in social­ly com­mit­ted films. In the final panel dis­cus­sion, we want to reflect on these dif­fer­ent strate­gies. Close obser­va­tion, auto­bi­o­graph­i­cal per­spec­tive, historic/critical com­pi­la­tion, and artis­tic and essay­is­tic nar­ra­tives are all ways of demon­strat­ing resis­tance against social injus­tice and the excess­es of cap­i­tal­ism. Here are the voices of those who stand for a dif­fer­ent Amer­i­ca. What insights do they offer – for exam­ple, in the con­text of ethnog­ra­phy? Fur­ther­more, what role do fes­ti­vals and other forums play in pro­mot­ing the under­stand­ing of new cin­e­mat­ic forms? Our themed series is refer­ring to the Robert Fla­her­ty Film Sem­i­nar, which is a unique center for self-reflec­tion and net­work­ing. Our guest John Gian­vi­to has for years been involved in the seminar’s dis­cours­es. Have there been any par­a­dig­mat­ic con­tro­ver­sies? To what extent has it been iden­ti­ty-form­ing, and how has it set trends?